Page 15 - Federal Budget Submission 2016-17

The role of pharmacists in health reform
“ Pharmacists are highly trained, have deep expertise in medicines, and are located in communities throughout Australia. But their role is far more limited in Australia than in many other countries.103
The health system in Australia is undergoing major reform, underpinned by the broader Reform of the Federation.104 A flexible, highly trained and responsive workforce will be a key enabler
of the reform of the health system and the implementation of innovative models of care. The pharmacist workforce is a critical part of this, particularly in primary care where the bulk of the reform process is happening.105,106 Whilst pharmacists are well placed to adopt, implement and sustain innovative models of practice – these models may require additional skills and the evolution of the role of the pharmacist. As such, the pharmacy workforce will require a diverse range of practitioners from generalists to advanced practitioners.107
The current reform environment is encouraging collaborative
and multidisciplinary team care. The establishment of PHNs has created a greater focus on mechanisms for funding primary health care services within a particular locality in a way that is responsive to the needs of that area and addresses gaps in service provision;
a responsive and flexible pharmacy workforce has a key role to play in this.
Developing a responsive and flexible workforce
The pharmacy workforce is highly trained and with a much younger age-profile than most other health professions, thus there is great potential for the workforce to practise in emerging and innovative models of care. In order to continue to optimise the pharmacists contribution in these models of care, training in non-traditional environments and multidisciplinary teams
is essential.
At present the only pharmacist training opportunities supported by the Government are rural training incentives administered under the 6th Community Pharmacy Agreement. PSA supports the ongoing provision of these incentives to address rural workforce
shortages, however, recognises that these incentives are only available to those training and practising in traditional community pharmacy environments.108
PSA acknowledges that the Government is aiming to streamline and enhance the quality of existing workforce development programs in the health sector.109,110 As such, it is an opportune time to reinvest savings from the streamlining of existing programs to support the development of pharmacists in non-traditional settings such as general practice clinics and multidisciplinary teams.
Federal Budget Submission 2016-17 I ©Pharmaceutical Society of Australia Ltd. 15
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